Jealousy gnawed at Christian, his gaze towards Soren filled with malice.

Jealousy, as they say, could drive a man mad.

At this moment, Christian even entertained the thought of eliminating Soren.

Autumn Montgomery hadn't expected Soren to refuse.  She paused, then sighed softly, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “Alright then. If you change your mind, you can find me anytime.”

“Okay,” Soren nodded.

Autumn Montgomery didn’t say anything more, turning to leave.

As she walked away, she muttered to herself, “Why did he reject me? Am I not attractive enough? Or does he already have someone he likes?”

Once she was gone, Wyatt exclaimed, “Soren, are you stupid? Why did you refuse?”

Autumn Montgomery was a genuine Ice Mage!

Her combat power was formidable!

Teaming up with such a powerhouse was a dream come true.

Anyone would have agreed without hesitation.

Yet Soren had refused.  Wyatt couldn't understand his thinking.

“I have my reasons,” Soren replied calmly.

Wyatt said exasperatedly, “What reasons could you possibly have? You’re just being foolish!”

“You go find a team. I’m going home.”

Soren didn’t bother explaining.  As he turned to leave, a tall, beautiful student approached him. “Soren, join our team.”

It was none other than Xu Fanqing, the other school beauty of Coastal City High.

“What the…?”

The surrounding students were stunned once again.

First Autumn Montgomery, now Xu Fanqing, both actively inviting Soren.

What was so special about him?

Besides being handsome, he was utterly useless!

Why was he favored by both school beauties?

The other students felt a pang of envy.

Christian, in particular, burned with rage.

He had invited Xu Fanqing earlier, but she had refused, claiming she didn’t want to team up with boys.

Yet, here she was, inviting Soren.

What was going on?

Was he, a Beast Warrior, truly inferior to a Wood Summoner?

Christian couldn’t accept it. He walked up to Xu Fanqing and asked, trying to maintain a pleasant tone, “Xu Fanqing, didn’t you say you didn’t want to team up with boys?”

“That was before. I’ve changed my mind,” Xu Fanqing replied coldly.

Christian’s Beast Warrior profession was indeed good, but his arrogant and纨绔 behavior was extremely annoying.

She naturally wouldn’t team up with someone like him.

Soren, on the other hand, was handsome, calm, and reserved, possessing an unusual aura.

She had a feeling that Soren wasn’t as simple as he appeared and wanted to get to know him better.

“…” Christian was speechless.

Xu Fanqing’s excuse was flimsy; she clearly just didn’t like him.

He felt insulted.

However, he didn’t dare vent his anger in front of her, so he directed his resentment towards Soren.

Xu Fanqing ignored him, turning back to Soren, waiting for his reply.

Soren used the same excuse. “Sorry, I prefer not to team up with girls.”

“What the hell!” The surrounding students erupted in disbelief.

Soren had rejected both school beauties. What was he thinking?

Was he really made of steel, devoid of all emotions?

“Uh… alright,” Xu Fanqing said, her disappointment evident.

“You can team up with Wyatt,” Soren said, pulling Wyatt to his side.

Xu Fanqing glanced at Wyatt and nodded. “Okay.”

Wyatt was a Shield Warrior, whose role was to protect his teammates. He would indeed be a valuable asset.

“Really?” Wyatt was pleasantly surprised.

The surrounding students looked at him with envy.

Teaming up with the school beauty was something they wouldn’t even dare to dream of, yet Wyatt had stumbled into it.

“You guys chat. I have something to do, so I’ll head back,” Soren said, then walked up to Christian and whispered, “Do you know why no one wants to team up with you?”

Christian paused, genuinely unsure.

He was from a prominent family and had a good profession. Why did Autumn Montgomery and Xu Fanqing look down on him?

“It’s simple. You’re too ugly.  Just looking at you makes people want to vomit. Who would have the courage to team up with such a hideous monster?”

With that, Soren turned and left.

Christian: “…”

Soren’s words weren’t particularly hurtful, but the insult was potent, nearly driving him mad.

Watching Soren’s retreating figure, Christian’s eyes turned cold. “Soren, just you wait. You’ll be kneeling and calling me ‘Grandpa’ soon enough.”

…

Back home, Soren went straight to his bedroom and retrieved a wooden box from under his bed. Inside was 50,000 Aella Credits.

This was all the money his parents had left him. They were both Combat Professionals and members of the Coastal City Blazing Mercenaries.

A year ago, they had died during a mission in a secret realm.

Soren’s predecessor had died from grief over their loss.

Looking at the money, Soren pondered.

This 50,000 Aella Credits was his entire savings. If he spent it, he would be left with nothing.

But the assessment was the day after tomorrow. Without equipment, he wouldn’t be able to pass.

Finally, he decided to keep 1,000 Aella Credits for living expenses and use the rest to buy equipment.

Just as he was about to leave, Wyatt called. “Soren, want to go buy equipment together later?”

“You go ahead. I have something to do,” Soren excused himself.

He was going to buy Combat Profession equipment, but he was a Wood Summoner. This wouldn’t make sense.

Moreover, he was going to buy a lot of it.

If Wyatt found out, what would he think?

Would he suspect that Soren had lost his mind?

Therefore, it was better to buy equipment discreetly on his own.

“Alright then, I’ll go first.” Wyatt didn’t think much of it and hung up.

Taking the money, Soren left his house and headed north.

Coastal City was divided into five districts: South, North, East, West, and Central.

Each district had shops selling equipment.

However, prices varied.

Naturally, the cheaper the equipment, the lower its quality.

The North District had many shops selling cheap equipment.

If he only had six equipment slots, Soren would definitely choose high-quality items.

But with sixty slots, quality wasn’t a major concern.

An hour later, Soren arrived at a shop called Treasure Pavilion in the North District.

The shop owner greeted him warmly. “Young man, our shop has a wide variety of items. What are you looking for?”

Soren glanced around and asked, “What’s the price of the cheapest offensive weapons?”

With only 49,000 Aella Credits, he couldn’t afford expensive weapons.

The shop owner pointed to a weapon rack. “These short swords are the cheapest, only 1,500 Aella Credits each.”